new to the forum... dry cough and problems swallowing... is this bulbar als?

[maricita]

Hi all,

Hope u r doing ok by when u see these lines. I am 26 years old and im terrified i might suffer from bulbar als. I dont know if it is the anxiety from it. I have a neurologist appointment on monday. I have always kind of had probelms with swallowing but lately is horrible. I suffer from post nasal drip and i do not if is related. Lately im getting tired of chewing and sometimes i feel like if i just cant swallow at all. i can not get the action done. i have problems swallowing any kind of thing. Last couple of weeks i have this horrible dry cough after i drink any liquid. i cough but i feel something running behind the throat. I cough after everytime i swallow. when i lay down is worse. i cough a few times and then fall asleep. sometimes i wake up to cough. I have not noticed slurred speech but i neither know how i am suppose to note that. I feel weakness in both my legs and my left hand is kind of week. This preocupation is absurd to the point that i am moving to miami in a few days and i am even rethinking that until i have a diagnose. i had a plan to germany and i am also thinking bout cancelling. i am afradi that while im there i get really sick and i cant breathe or choke or someting like that without medical insurance.

i have read that slurred/nasal speech is normal in bulbar. the thing is that i migh be nasal because i feel im congested. i got a dog and i am assuming the nasal drip comes from allergy to it.

the swallowing problems have been worse in the last 3 days. the couging a few weeks. is it possible to have such a quick als onset?
sometimes i cough until im out of air. I have cramps in the morning but ease with the day. i am not drinking medicines for post nasal drip. i am also suppose to be studying for bar examination and i just cant concentrate. is in my head the whole time! my questions are:

1. is this dry cough part of bulbar or could be just post nasal drip?
2. could the problems swallowing also be part of the post nasal drip? I dont feel i choke on food, i just feel it does not go down well. it requieres me another bite or water to make go down. is like a thick swallowing.
3. how do i distinguish between bulbar als and post nasal drip?
4. is cough an early symptom?
5. could all be these anxiety symptoms?
6. how can i realize if i have slurred speech or tongue twitching?
7. how is suppose to be the onset of bulbar?
8. how will you describe your swallowing issues?

I appretiate your time and patience and Im sorry for venting here. Im about to break down. I am even afraid of going on monday to the neurologist! I admire you all with all my heart and I wish you all the best!

 

[maricita]

i must add that the cough is persistent! i cant stop... every few minutes. in the morning i usually do not have. it gets worse in the night. i am really afraid i must note again. i have not been able to enjoy the last few day with this issue in my head over and oaver again.

thanks again!

 

[Zaphoon]

You asked if it is possible to have such a quick onset. Anything is possible but in the case of ALS onset, it is termed as "insidious". That means it is at work without you knowing about it; it creeps up on you unnoticed. By the time you start having symptoms, the disease has been at work for a while.

In your case, it looks like you have something that knocked on your door, woke you up and started saying, "Hello there! I'm coming in... hear me roar!"

I would say it doesn't look like ALS onset to me but I am no doctor. Your age is also something you have going for you. The mean age of onset for ALS is around 50 and add to it the rare nature of the beast. The further away from 50 you get on the younger side, the odds get in your favor of not having ALS.

Zaphoon

 

[GlenBrittle]

Hey Maricita,

Sounds like you are having a horrible time. I too have nasty sinuses that drip.

I can only speculate , but here is what my experience is telling me.

Post nasal drip , runs constantly down the back of your throat
First you start clearing your throat
then you start coughing , causing your throat to be irritated.
When you eat it feels rough , because of the irritation , which makes you cough more.
Yes , you can cough enough to throw up.
Yes , you can cough enough to feel weak and tired.
Anxiety, well if you are getting pissed by this point - oh ya .

A neurologist is the proper person to diagnosed bulbar ALS. I dont think you need to see one.

First , try something to dry up your drip. It might take a day or two to see improvements.
Find a throat losenge or syrup that will sooth that throat.

If that does not work - see a doctor.

Most of all , stop worrying. Have fun in Germany.

 

[maricita]

thanks u all for your quick and nice replys. today i woke up with cough and phlegm and feeling really tired. i also feel a little problem breathing, as a chest pressure. im going to try to relax today. thank you all for taking the time and the insight ;-)

 

[maricita]

visit to the neuro

Hi you all!

Hope u r doing fine! thank u again for ur time. yesterday was the appt. with the neuro i wanted to update you. He did the mother of the physical examinations. Everything! Now, when he asked to pull out my tongue, he asked me to hold a second and he came several minutes later with his son, also a neuro. he also checked me, asked me several questions regarding my swallowing. In the end, the doctor said everything looked normal but iwas kind of suspitious as him not tellin me everything. he checked me too well and double! reflexes, everthing! the only thing the son mentioned was that i had an hyper gag reflex which is good. At our exit he scheduled me for an EMG on Wednesday! That quick! im rather in shock because those things here take a long time. so i have an appt on wednesday at 4pm. i mentioned him my fear of ALS and he said i should not worry that they just wanted to see what my symptoms are about. I should note that he also pointed to do a larynx test of some sort with an ENT. I mentioned him that like a few weeks ago an ENT try to performed one but i keep on gagging everytime and i decided to stop it. he said we will look for other ways to make it happen. He was super nice, caring and attentive to all my symptoms. now, he did not wanted to touch the ALS subject and kept saying not to think about it. what if they were not telling me the truth? why to call the son? maybe it was because he couldnt find something?

As for today i just noticed another weird symptom: my tongue is pressing hard against the roof of the mouth. Again, i dont know if thats stress related. I am also waking up really anxious and shaky dont know why. Maybe is the same stress working on me.

What do you think about the new symptoms?

Lastly, and this might be a rather personal note but how did u managed the road to diagnosed? Were u going crazy with this inside your head? How did you cope? Im trying to keep busy and think everything is going to be ok but is hard. i keep on thinking on the mere possibility and i start to cry. I dont know what else to do. As a matter of fact, last night i could barely sleep thinking about the appointment and probably i wont today thinking about wednesday.

What do you recommend? I feel like I really need some support or something to make me believe that everything is going to be ok.

God bless you all and i wish u all the best. Thanks for caring and helping this neurotic girl ;-)

 

[maricita]

hi there...
regarding this comment, i was rather thinking that maybe the problems swallowing is whats causing the post nasal drip? what u think about that? thanks for the advice. I am gonna get tomorrow some nasonex but my medical insurance does not cover medicine so i have to pay it all! $145! so i am going tomorrow! thanks again!

 

[Zaphoon]

I think you should follow the advice of your doctor and not think about ALS.

Zaphoon

 

[awieleba]

Maricita~

I hope you are doing well. Have you been checked for allergies? My daughter never had them (granted she is one and half) last summer, but this summer she has had horrible coughing fits at night. I mean they wake me up all night long. It sounds sometimes like gagging. I figured it was some post nasal drip. I took her to the ped and she said allergies and to close my window. IT was strange because the on set came when we started opening up the windows. We shut our windows at night and use a humidifer, she has not had any more of those fits. She was coughing and gagging on her post nasal drip and threw up 2x from all this. Just a thought........

 

[modublin22]

Did you ever figure out what was going on? I am having the same problems and they said it could be GERD up in my throat. I dont have any burning just having a hard time swallowing. I did the endoscope came back fine, I saw an ENT who looked at my vocal cords. I also have some muscle twitching throughout my body, left arm weakness and left leg weakness. I am 34 year old female have a neuro appointment on Thursday but I am freaking out to say the least.